About

Bottom of the 9th: Clubhouse Expansion

$66,309

pledged of $20,000 goal

1,446

backers

Last year, with the help of over 2000 backers, we brought Bottom of the 9th to life. Designers Darrell Louder and Mike Mullins captured the tension and thrill of the final three outs of a baseball game in a 5-15 minute card and dice game!

The Bottom of the 9th: Clubhouse Expansion builds on both the gameplay and theme of the original game by adding a ton of new players, extensive tournament rules, additional managers and support staff, and introducing brand new Equipment cards into the mix! Each team has a budget to spend on Tools like bats, balls, and pine tar, as well as Gear like new jerseys, rally caps, and more. You can even upgrade your clubhouse to benefit every player in your lineup! Cards featuring the new Shift ability and token-driven powers increase the incredible number of combinations possible while making your winning lineup.

Bottom of the 9th: Clubhouse Expansion will offer the same hallmark replay value as other Dice Hate Me Games titles from Greater ThanGames, and the same high-quality components that players have come to love. Here's a list of what you'll find inside the box:

20 New Player Cards, full-color front and one-color back, in a foil-wrapped pack

25 mini-Euro sized Equipment Cards

1 Reference Card

2 Component Storage/Dice Cups

14 punchboard Peanut Tokens

Revised full-color rulebook

TheBottom of the 9th: Clubhouse game box will be the same size footprint as the base game of Bottom of the 9th; the difference will be its height, and this is why we are calling this box size the "Chunky Monkey". The Clubhouse game box will be able to hold all cards already released for Bottom of the 9th, the cards in the this campaign, and more! The box has space for 225 Player cards including the dice cups!

What's this crazy "Chunky Monkey" talk? Take a look here for more information on our box sizes and game categories!

The Season 2 Promo pack commemorates the Clubhouse expansion's debut with some unique cards that are different in play style from those already within the game. The contents of this pack may grow throughout this campaign... (hint hint)

4 New Players

2 New Equipment Cards

Designer Mike Mullins sat down with Ben Pinchback (designer of Fleet) during Unpub 6 to play a game with Clubhouse. You can see how Bottom of the 9th is played, get a feel for how the equipment is used, and get a peek at some of the new players!

New Rulebook!

Bottom of the 9th: Clubhouse rulebook doesn't just come with rules to the expansion, it's also a comprehensive book that includes a revamp of the original rules. You won't need to look through several different rulebooks and FAQs for your learning and questioning needs! (We will provide a link to the rulebook once it has completed its second draft)

More Players!

Clubhouse will come with 20 brand new players with new tricks and Traits!

Equipment Cards

Each Equipment Card belongs to one of three categories. “Tools” are items that a player may use, like bats, balls, or even gum. “Gear” describes wearable items, such as jerseys or cleats. Finally, there is “Clubhouse” Equipment, which affects every player on your roster.

Before a game begins, each team may spend $1000 on Equipment Cards. Beginning with the Away team, each player drafts one card that they can legally equip and subtracts the cost from their budget. The icons at the bottom of the card indicate whether a piece of equipment is usable by a pitcher, a hitter, or both. When both budgets are exhausted, each player sets their roster, allocates their equipment, and gets ready for the first pitch!

Tokens & Shift Abilities

Peanuts! Getchya peanuts Heeeeere!
Clubhouse also introduces two new types of abilities - Token and Shift. When a card with peanut icons is put into play, place the indicated number of Peanut Tokens on it. These tokens can be removed to power abilities, or even used to track the effectiveness of an effect.

Shift is a new way to manipulate a die roll. When a player rolls a number depicted in a Shift arrow, they may change that number as shown by the arrows. For example, a Shift 3 up would let the player change a Natural 3 to a Natural 4, whereas Shift 4 down lets the player make a Natural 4 into a Natural 3.

Equipped Player Example: There are 2 Balls and 2 Strikes in the pitch count against Dan Martini, when Dan is completely fooled during the Stare Down. The pitcher then throws a B3 Pitch. Dan rolls a 4, and with no red or white abilities would normally swing and miss. However, he can remove a token from Pine Tar (Left Equipment Card) and shift the 4 to a 3, laying off the pitch to take a Ball.

$30 - Bottom of the 9th Playmat

The Bottom of the 9th playmat measures 36 x 24" and is built for playing all versions of Bottom of the 9th, including full 9 innings! Made of highly durable neoprene, this mat will be the centerpiece of your game table.

$5 - Season 1 Promo Pack

This is the Season 1 Promo pack that was given to backers of the original Bottom of the 9th campaign. It includes 2 Players, a Game Condition card, and the beloved (and wildly popular) Pitcher Meeple.

"Bottom of the 9th is a fantastic game that has a really fun solo variant. I play a lot of solo board/card games (Mage Knight, Friday, LOTR, Death Angel, Onirim, and so on) and this happens to be my current favorite. The cards are "heavy" and sturdy like a real baseball card, and the playing field is nicely done. Recommend this game for sure! - Fredrick T. Matson

"I’ve found my new favorite filler game, and its name is Bottom of the 9th." - Mark Meredith

"My wife and I will be playing this for years to come. We have already been talking about using the official variants to play full games and have gotten very attached to specific players. I honestly cannot imagine a better baseball game." - Sam London

“Bottom of the 9th is the best baseball simulation I have ever played.” - Mike Fitzgerald, veteran designer of Wyvern, Mystery Rummy, Hooyah, and Baseball Highlights: 2045

“Bottom of the 9th is exactly what I wanted it to be - a tense and exciting showdown between pitcher and batter with everything on the line.” - Ben Pinchback, co-designer of Fleet and Eggs & Empires

"Love how much tension was crammed into such a small game. The selection of pitch location and then the die roll really had you on edge. I also really enjoyed the nostalgia you incorporated with the layout/design." - Dan Halstad, League of Nonsensical Gamers

"Bottom of the 9th hit me from out of left field. It's a little game that does a LOT of everything. From the large section of players that have wildly different specials to the tense feeling of a neck and neck ball game, Bottom of the 9th is one of my go-to games at the start of each game night". - Jason Tagmire, Buttonshy Games. (Maximum Throwdown, Seven 7s)

Bottom of the 9th is a distinguished alum of the Unpub program - a series of public and private playtest events held each year to help designers present, hone and polish their game designs with the gaming public, as well as board game production professionals.

For US and Canadian backers, we are charging a flat $5 for shipping. For Canadians, this also covers import taxes and customs duties. Furthermore, if you back at one of the top two tiers and live in the US or Canada, you will get FREE SHIPPING!

Unfortunately, we can't offer the same outside the US and Canada, because it is simply too expensive. However, any EU orders will be "EU Friendly", in that they will not incur VAT or customs fees on delivery.

This means that the shipping charges for this campaign are as follows:

US: $5

Canada: $5

EU: $29

Other: $39

We know that international shipping is annoyingly expensive; believe us, we are just as annoyed as you are! However, to help offset the shipping costs a bit, we have a work-around. For those of you living outside of the US and Canada, if you have a bunch of friends who want to support this project, just make one group pledge for as many games as you’d like, and you'll all receive every stretch goal! Just send us a PM first letting us know what you are doing so that we can watch for it and help you out.

First off, welcome back baseball fans! The reception for the core game of Bottom of the 9th has been nothing short of phenomenal since our successful campaign last spring, and that has been absolutely awesome. Much thanks to all of you who supported this big little game the first time around on Kickstarter.

When we first started talking about doing a baseball game, a lot of industry insiders mentioned that they weren’t sure it would sell. Traditionally, sports board games have been hit or miss in the market. I knew we had something special from the very first time Darrell and Mike showed the base game concept to me, and it’s wonderful to see it be played and enjoyed by so many of you. You all proved that not only could a sports game be successful, but there was also a huge demand for something like Bottom of the 9th!

The base game of Bottom of the 9th already has incredible replay value, but the Clubhouse Expansion boosts that variable to incalculable realms. With a huge host of new players, the addition of Equipment, and the introduction of Tokens and the Shift mechanic, you’ll truly never play the same game twice! I am so proud of the work from Darrell and Mike on this, and I guarantee everyone that backs will be satisfied. So oil up those gloves, take a few practice swings, and claim your seat on the bench in the Clubhouse!

All the best,
Chris

Risks and challenges

As with any project that involves the production and manufacture of a good to be delivered, there is certainly a real chance for hiccups, delays and more than one or two gremlins gumming up the works along the way. Many boardgame projects on Kickstarter have been seriously hampered by art production delays, problems with an overseas factory, missing units and one shipping snafu after another.

Luckily, we have a few projects under our belt, and have dealt with many of those snafus and gremlins along the way. We have a good working relationship with our overseas manufacturer and have become accustomed to their protocols, communication styles and general idiosyncrasies. We try to plan for all contingencies, and have worked through - and learned from - kinks we may have encountered in our past projects.

We won't lie - stuff happens. Delays can occur. Sometimes you have to go back and forth on color samples six times just to get the color right, and even then the color isn't perfect. Sometimes even personal life events can blindside you. But what we do promise is that we will hold ourselves to the same high standards we expect from other board game publishers, and we will be completely honest and open with each of you every step of the way.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $99 or more
About $99

EXECUTIVE SUITES

Receive every single Bottom of the 9th item in two shipments for faster playing! This summer, you will receive:
▶︎ Bottom of the 9th Core Game
▶︎ Big League Support Expansion
▶︎ Sentinels of the 9th Expansion
▶︎ Original promo pack
▶︎ Gen Con 2015 promo pack

Then, when it arrives from the printer, you will receive:
▶︎ Bot9 Clubhouse Expansion
▶︎ Premium neoprene playmat
▶︎ Season 2 Promo Pack
▶︎ All applicable stretch goals
▶︎ FREE SHIPPING in the US and Canada!